Electric water-heater.



H. N. ROCHE a W. R. RAY,

ELECTRIC WATER HEATER.

APPLIUATION FILED AUG. a, v1910.

Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

'UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

HERBERT N. ROCHE AND WILLIAM RUTH RAY, F 'SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA,ASSIGNORS TO THOMAS B. GRAY, 0F vSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA,

ELECTRIC WATER-HEATER.

To all 'whom 'it may conce/m:

Be it known that We, HERBERT N. ROCHE, and WILLIAM R. Raigcitizens ofthe United States,v residing in the cit and county of San Francisco' andState o' California,have invented new and useful Improvements inElectric \Vater-Heaters, of which the folN lowing is ay specification.

This invention relttes to electric Water heaters,

It is a purpose of our invention to provide,

in an electric Water heater, unens of simple, reliable and effectiveconstruction whereby an electric current may be controlled automaticallyby the operation of the handle of the Water supply, and to so design,the mechn anism as to provide against short circuiting of the current,and which may be easily recal section, partly in elevation. Fig. 3

plan View oll the switch. Fig. l is a sec tional view of the actuator.Fig. is a de tail of the heating coils aud insulators. Fig. (3 shows thecoils protected Aby separate tubes. Fig'. shows a ruoditied Atorni otconnection to the valve stein. llipj. tl is a` detail showinginperspective the switch, in-

cludiugthe plates or levers, QQ-Q-, andassociated parts.

The illustrations represent one lormfot or.I invention as actuallyconstructed and successfully operated, in' which- A is a suitablecasing` havingl ay crown 2 ou which may he mounted au iucarulescont lign3 connected io 'the heating circuit ot the a'uiaratus lor thepurpose otindicating the lion' otf'mureut. The lower cud oi the fusing is .scaledby a, disk 4t, insulated from a. suitahhl hase 5, through which is aeocl; or valve (l having' a handlc-ste1n 7. lhen the stem 7 is turned toopen the valve water will 'llow into ari appropriate receiver S in- Asuitable nozzle 12.

y specification of Letter-armut, patentar Mar, g1, j 911 Applicationfiled August 3, 1910. Serial No. 575,3G.

sulated from and mounted on the bottom it, and will pass upwardlythrough parallel, serially connected resistance coils 9 supported in atubular insulator 10, then the heatedr Water Will flow through a centralconduit 11, insulated. from its coil, and pass out to thebottom of theheater through a lit is absolutely necessary in constructing heaters ofthis class that the transmissions of high .voltage electric current bevery carefully controlled, and that all possible chance of electrolysisand short. circuiting be guarded against, and it is to this end thatthev coils -9 are connected tothe posts 13, 1i oi a standard snap switchli of well known and epprtn/'edV structure. rlfhe switch blades and- 16turn inl one direction only, and

are actuated by a' stein 17, which `is `iourneled in the switch so that'the current may be turned through the posts 13 and lll from lead mains18 and 19 secured to switch posts 2O and 21.

A particular and important feature of this invention is the meanswhereby the stem is actuated in a manner in simulation of the pressureof the human hand on the usual switch stein, that is, the stem isturned. by

power applied equally on opposite sides ot' the stem to prevent sidethrust of the stem in its bearing and ctmsefpient bindingY of parts,This action accomplished by mounting at the outer end oit the sternindependent, loose plates or leaves Q2 and 2215,

having a Walking-heaiu motion thereon, and

each ,carrying restrictive springl` pressed pawls 2% and Le, theiforiner oit which, when movingup, will engage 2G notched at andrastcued on the stein l. 'l`he paul Q5A on lever coacts en itsdtm'nn'ard stroke with ay collar also iiolclicd at 2S) and Ltastcucd on'the stein. 'lhe levers are adapted to roch simulta'ncouslyY in oppositedirections, and are coiuuuted to ther valve spindle in `:ucl: relationthat the Valve may be opened nearl;v4 tull before the switch clos i thecircuit, and may then be nearly closed to shut oli= the water hcliorcAhrcalu j the circuit so Athat a small volume ot Water may. he allowedto i'low through the coils 13 and become 'highly hea ted, if desired,The relative disposition a cotipcrative collar of levers 22 and 23 toeach other is such that as pawl 24, on lever 2Q, .is swung doa n it willfreely ride over the ratchet 2G, while the pawl 25, on lever Q3,taneously moved upward and is in operative engagement with and drivingthe ratchet QS, thus turning the stem 17 a quarter turn, breaking thecircuit at blades l5 and 16. rlhe pawl plates 22 and 23 are disposed atapproximately a right angle and since they move in opposite directionseach pawl 24 and Q5 is etective, when moved clockwise, to engage itsratchet, thus always turning the stem 17 in one direction.

Any suitable and appropriate means may be employed to connect the valvespindle and the switch stein, and one form is to fasten on the spindle 7a pinion 30 and on the opposite side of it mount racks 31-39. in a guideB3 so that when the gear 30 is turned with the spindle 7 it willsimultaneously reciprocate its complementary racks, one upwardly and onedownwardly. rthis motion of the racks is transmitted to the levers bylinks,one pair of which, as 34w35, diverges r'om racks 31 and connects,one with a pivot Y36' on lever 22 and the other with a pivot 37 on theopposite end of the other lever 23.

, will rock at each movement of the spindle when the water is let intothe receiver 8, one set of links moving up and the other set moving downso that the force applied to turn the stem 17 in one direction actsthrough the pawl which is moving in the direction in which the stem isdesigned to turn, clockwise in this instance. The diametrically oppositenotches in the collars 26 and 28 are set at quarters on the stem 17andas the valve spindle 7 is turned upwardlya quarter revolution thepawl engaging its respective collar will turn the stem 17 and at the endot the quarter turn will snap the switch. The side st ain of .theactuating pawl on the spindle is neutralized by the simultaneouslreverse action of the oppositely moving lever.

In this way the oppositely oscillatedilevers being positively connectedto the spindle 7 act as bearings in which the sten. or shaft 17 mayturn, thus dispensing with one fixed bearing and the resultantadditional friction. When the valve stem is being turned to cut oil theflow of water, the pawl Q5 will engage a notch of the collar and beforethe water is entirely cut ott the switch blades will snap away from theposts and break the circuit instantly. Y

A very simple and easily operated form ot connection between the spindle7 and the is being `iinullevers comprises, in place of the racks andpinion, a single lever 4Q, fastened on the spindle and directlyconnected by the links lo the walking beams and 23.

The insulator l() may be of any suitable material and form, as inseparate tubes 10, and is here shown as having a plurality oflongitudinal perfor-ations in which the coils 18 are strung, eachcoilbeing connected 'in series and having its bridge wire countersunk insmall slots 43 across the ends of the insulator so that they are flushtherewith, thus preventing the chance of short-circuiting at this point.The ends of the insulators are provided with slotted cups 44 to spacethe member within the receiver and allow a tree circulation of water',and in order to prevent electrolysis and conserve heat, the bodv of theinsulator is insulated from the receiver wall by a thin sheet of mica orother 'i .to turn the switch stem.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secureby Letters'- Patcnt, is-

l. The combination in an electric water heater, out a rotary snap switchadapted to complete an electric circuit throu' h the heater, and aswitch o'perating mec ianism comprising a water valve stem, a leversecured thereon, a pair of independent, loose walking beams on theswitch stem adapted to rotate the stem when oscillated, and connectionsbetween said lever and the walking beams, whereby the latter may beactuated when the valve stem is moved.

2. The combination in an electric waterheate'r, ot' a rotary snap switchadapted to .send an electric current through the heater, and aswitch-operating device comprising a valve shank, a lever securedthereon, a switch stem, a pair of independent rocking plates looselymounted on and rotating the switch,

opposite directions, and pairs of links connecting said plates and thelever on the valve shank for operating the plates.

3. The combination in an electric `water heater, ot' a rotary electricswitch and its stem, a water controlling valve, and means connectingsaid-valve and said switch, said means including a pair of oppositelyoscillating plates loosely` mounted on the switch set our hands in thepresence of two subsoribmriy be actuated, one pair of said links 10oppositie ends of the links simultaneously.

steni,pmv1s carried by the lplates and enlng Witnesses.

gaefible with the iatchets fast on the stem whben the Aplatesinove thepawls in the' saine HERBLRT N' ROCHE direction, and pairs of linksconnecting the WILLIAM RUTH RAY' plates and the valve, whereby theswitch fitnesses as to H. N Roche;

' `CILmLEs EDELMAN,

FREDERICK E. MAYNARD. Witnesses as to W. R. Ruy:

.M. 7. YOUNG, 7. M. READ.'

efective to push on opposite ends of the plates and the other pu.'effective to pull on In testimony whereof We have hereunto

